I downloaded a ‘Playbook” recently on the subject of referrals which I was reminded to revisit following a conversation with one of our Pabasso.com board members whose business converts about 80% of referrals from existing clients into new business.

By any measure that is a hugely successful way to generate new business but it doesn’t happen by accident. By the way, it appears a ‘Playbook’ in this context is a piece of marketing collateral I might have described as a ‘White Paper’.

You would be surprised at how many businesses never ask for referrals if you have satisfied customers use them!

There is a science in making referral programs work for your business and there are a number of organisations that specialise in helping you maximise the value of referrals. It’s an extremely effective way to win customers but it doesn’t just happen, as with most things in business you need to plan how to do it, monitor it, manage it and massage it to get the best results. If you can’t measure it you can’t manage it.

However, you shouldn’t just consider referrals as a way to get new business, what about new employees? I have used employee referral schemes very effectively to acquire new talent. Make sure you have a scheme in place to encourage your existing employees to refer potential employees to your organisation – and don’t skimp on the rewards, you know the costs of the alternative methods of recruiting.

So are you getting enough? If not then start your customer and employee referral plan now and get a scheme implemented. Such is the knowledge and experience we might share in a Pabasso peer advisory board.